Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Oppositional Judgement

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 12.28.21 | Aux. Bishop R. Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs

Matthew 2:13-18

Friends, today’s Gospel tells the story of Herod’s massacre of the innocents, which mimics, of course, Pharoah’s murder of the male children of the Hebrews at the time of Moses’ birth.

John Courtney Murray commented that a major motif of the Gospels is the ever-increasing agon (struggle) that characterizes Jesus’ life. From the very beginning, he is opposed: Herod trembles in fear at his birth and then tries in the most brutal manner possible to stamp him out, forcing him and his family into exile. And from the first moments of his public ministry, he awakens fierce opposition from both the cosmic powers and the representatives of the religious establishment. As the narrative unfolds, the warfare only becomes more intense, verbal violence giving way to threats of physical harm and finally to institutional violence that culminates in execution by crucifixion.

The theological meaning of this struggle is made clear in Peter’s post-Pentecost speech to the crowds gathered in the temple precincts: "You denied the Holy and Righteous One . . . The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead." The opposition to Jesus is divine judgment on the dysfunction of the world.

[MurphsLaw]

+++When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his
mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the
child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and
his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of
Herod,
that what the Lord had said through
the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod realized that he had been
deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the
boys in Bethlehem and its
vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had
ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been
said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud
lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be
consoled,
since they were no more.+++

[ebb tide]

It's no surprise that the heretic, Bobby Barron, would source a fellow heretic, John Courtney Murray, S.J..

Has “Public Order” Enthroned Diabolical Disorientation?

‘Father Murray was determined to ensure that Church teaching was brought into line with the American Constitution. He wrote to Cardinal Spellman asking him to make a speech in defense of the American constitutional system and its version of religious freedom — which was based on the papally condemned principle of separation of Church and State.”

As Davies indicates, Fr. Murray’s position (which the Council adopted) ran counter to historical Church teaching. Indeed, Fr. Yves Congar famously admitted this as well: “It cannot be denied that the declaration on religious liberty does say materially something else than the Syllabus of 1864; it even says just about the opposite.”

John Courtney Murray paved the way for Joe Biden. But does the Jesuit’s theory of America still stand today?

When Catholics issue these calls, they are often accompanied by the name of John Courtney Murray, S.J.—so it is hardly a surprise that

Massimo Faggioli recently suggested in America that President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and all American Catholics should be grateful to Murray for pointing the way to our participation in the U.S. public square.